Amazon Prime Video: 2 surprising series to watch tonight

Whether you're feeling adventurous or just fancy a little throwback fun, Amazon Prime Video always has the program for you. And as usual, CNET France is here to help you choose among the best films and series on the SVoD streaming platform.

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For this Thursday evening, the editorial staff has thus selected two excellent series that will suit all tastes: Always Jane and The Prince of Bel-Air.

What series to watch tonight on Amazon Prime Video?

A comic and regressive series: The Prince of Bel Air

Synopsis

On the advice of his mother, Will, a 17-year-old teenager, leaves Philadelphia and his modest background to settle with his aunt and uncle in Los Angeles, in the very chic district of Bel-Air, in order to have better chance of succeeding in life...

The opinion of CNET France

While the reboot of the series will arrive this year on HBO Max, it is good to go back to basics and discover (or review) the cult program that revealed Will Smith.

And from its famous credits, The Prince of Bel-Air is tinged with the energy and aura of its main role. In the well-worn principle of "fish out of water", the series places Will the rapper from the cities at the heart of a bourgeois life where he inevitably clashes, and conducive to many gags and comic situations. Jokesman and extrovert, Will Smith shows all his comic potential, and his burlesque gestures which will make the fame of his beginning of career, in films like Men in Black for example.

But the situation works both ways, and his character finds himself regularly put in his place by an effective lesson in morality, often delivered by the patriarch, the sympathetic and memorable Uncle Phil (James Avery). Because the rest of the cast is at the level: whether it's his cousin Carlton or his aunt Viviane, everyone participates in the joyful comic ballet of the show.

But The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air wouldn't be such a famous show if it didn't hit the nail on the head numerous times. Whether in its ironic portrayal of social stereotypes, or the treatment of sensitive issues such as drugs, violence or fatherhood, the series proves to be more intelligent and touching than it seems.

Not everything is to be kept in the 6 seasons and 148 episodes of the series, but its short format and its effective writing make it a safe bet good to see again or to discover, and which will sweeten your evenings.

A poignant and necessary documentary series: Always Jane

Synopsis

Jane Noury ​​lives with her family in rural New Jersey. Like any teenager, she divides her time between friends, family and classes. The current political and social climate is not conducive to the development of a transgender teenager, but the Nourys do not care and face daily challenges with humor and love. Jane, she dreams of leaving far from their little...

The opinion of CNET France

This documentary series of 4 episodes of about 45 minutes each invites us into the intimacy of a family and a fight: that of Jane, a young transgender teenager. With its naturalistic production, Always Jane hides nothing of the fears and joys of this obstacle course, and ultimately delivers a touching, human and important series.

If the subject inevitably brings difficult moments, the series is nevertheless very positive, in particular thanks to the support of Jane's family. A world within a world that the show invites us to experience as closely as possible, in particular thanks to a light camera with which the members of the family film themselves, like a diary.

Alternating a neat staging, and sequences "on the spot", the impression of reality is extremely poignant. Especially when the documentary finds itself interrupted by the Covid pandemic, further isolating Jane and her questions.

Far from prejudices about the trans and LGBTQI+ community, Always Jane is a fair, educational and caring series, and the fascinating portrait of a teenager and her universal learning story. A necessary subject that will speak to everyone, and which will remain in your mind for a long time.

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